NEWS))))))

Arrest of families of Ashraf residents in Tehran airport
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Tens of families of Ashraf residents who were going to Iraq to visit their children were arrested during an attack by the mullahs’ Intelligence Ministry (MOIS) at Tehran airport. Subsequently the houses of these families were raided in Tehran. The secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran in Paris announced the names of some of the mothers, fathers, and sisters who were arrested on Friday afternoon January 16 and were mostly at the ages of 60 to 80. Those arrestees were transferred to solitary cells of Ward 209 in Evin prison. The secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran reminded that the arrest and mayhem of the old mothers and fathers of the PMOI members, transferring them to torture chambers of the ward 209 of Evin prison and raids on their residences is a corner of mullahs’ so-called “compassion” towards the residents of Ashraf and their families. This is at the very same time that the mullahs and their agents continuously shed crocodile tear for family sentiments of Ashraf residents’ families. Last December, People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran published the names of the families of 87 other residents of Ashraf who had been arrested, imprisoned and undergone various pressures by the mullahs’ regime after visiting with their children in Ashraf and their return to Iran. The Iranian Resistance has asked international organizations to condemn this act and immediately intervene for releasing imprisoned families.Voice of America TV on January 17, 2009 reflected this news by saying: 'According to human rights activists in Iran, 18 women were arrested at Mehrabad airport [in Tehran] yesterday and were taken to solitary cells of ward 209 in Evin prison. It is said that these women, whose ages were between 55 and 80, had gone to the airport with the intention of visiting their children in Camp Ashraf in Iraq and had valid visas.'

EU strongly condemns new cases of execution by stoning in Iran
Friday, 16 January 2009
EU: According to official confirmation and reports from other credible sources, three people were subject to execution by stoning in the city of Mashhad in the week beginning 21 December 2008. One of the three is reported to have managed to escape the stoning pit and survived. The other two were less fortunate and were stoned to death. The European Union requests that the central authorities of the Islamic Republic of Iran investigate this issue, and ensure that the practice of execution by stoning is effectively and permanently terminated in the country, in compliance with the International Covenant of Political and Civil Rights, which the Islamic Republic of Iran has signed and ratified, as well as the Declaration on the Protection of All Persons From Being Subjected to Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, as adopted by the UN General Assembly Resolution 3452 of December 1975, which Iran has approved.The European Union calls on the Islamic Republic of Iran to abolish the cruel and inhuman punishment of stoning from its legal code, and to ratify the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.The European Union wishes to remind the Islamic Republic of Iran of an announcement made in August 2008 by the judiciary placing a suspension on the practice. These most recent executions not only go against the suspension, they represent a worryingly retrograde step, and we urge the Islamic Republic of Iran to ensure such statements are immediately enforced and enshrined in legislation. The EU’s condemnation comes after the Iranian regime sentenced 10 people to death by stoning.

European Parliament condemned EU Council of Ministers for not implementing courts’ rulings on de-listing PMOI
The European Parliament approved a resolution in its official session in Strasburg on January 14 and strongly condemned the European Union’s Council of Ministers for not implementing several Court verdicts in favour of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI). Article 31 of the European Parliament’s resolution titled as 'Situation of fundamental rights in the European Union' reads: “The European Parliament Deplores the non-implementation by the EU of the judgments of the CFI on 12 December 2006 and on 4 and 17 December 2008 and the UK Court of Appeal ruling in favour of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI) on May 7, 2008.''The European Parliament considers that the effective protection and the promotion of fundamental rights form the basis of democracy in Europe and are prerequisites for the consolidation of the European area of freedom, security and justice.'

Iranians marked 20th day of sit-in supporting PMOI in Brussels
In bitter cold, Iranians from all walks of life marked their 20th day of sit-in outside EU headquarters calling for justice in the case of the main Iranian opposition organization, the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI), on Friday. The participants demanded that the EU Council of Ministers immanently implement the court ruling of 4 December 2008 annulling the terror label on the organization.Dr. Karim Qasseim, chairman of the Environmental Committee of the NCRI addressed the demonstrators. He said, 'EU Council must abide by the rule of law and delist the PMOI.' Organizers of the Brussels sit-in opened a photo exhibition of the latest human rights violations of the mullahs’ regime. It received good public respond when local residents and tourists expressed sympathy with the Iranian people and their Resistance.


More pressures and torture imposed on political prisoners
Thursday, 15 January 2009
NCRI: Jan. 14, 2009: The ruling religious fascism in Iran has intensified pressure on political prisoners in order to break them down mentally. One political prisoner, Mr. Mansour Rodpour, was transferred last week to the solitary confinement ward known as Ward 8 at Gohardasht prison in Karaj (near Tehran). Last month, he tolerated solitary confinement in Ward 1 of the prison, known literally as the “dog pound.” After being severely tortured, he now has trouble walking, and remains under the supervision of the mullahs’ Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. He is not allowed to talk to other prisoners.The area known as the “dog pound,” which is equipped with cameras and eavesdropping devices, is considered as one of the most terrifying torture chambers of the mullahs’ regime, and is used to break down unyielding political prisoners.Groups of henchmen from the regime’s Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS) attack the defenceless prisoners who are blindfolded and whose hands and feet are enchained. The henchmen use sticks and electric batons to beat the prisoners and carry out some of the most brutal forms of torture.Prisoners are deprived of the most basic necessities and have no access to pharmaceutical drugs or medical care. They are only allowed to exit their cells three times a day for their personal needs.Mansour Rodpour was arrested by MOIS agents on May 17, 2007 while travelling on Chalous road. He spent 25 days in safe houses under torture. Deprived of a lawyer and right of defence, on August 23, 2008, he was tried at the mullahs’ “Revolutionary Court,” Branch #1, by a MOIS agent identified as Asef Hosseini, and sentenced to 5 years in prison. Mr. Rodpour has been banned from family visits.Another political prisoner, Hashem Shahin Nia, who has been exiled at the Central prison in Bushehr (southern Iran) for more than a year, is in dire physical condition after facing brutal torture and due to intolerable prison conditions. Despite the need to be treated by doctors, the regime’s henchmen refrain from providing medical attention to Mr. Shahin Nia. He is, in addition, currently suffering from a heart condition. He is accused of participating in the 2005 protest gathering outside the notorious Evin prison in Tehran as well as having ties to the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI), and has been sentenced to seven years in prison.According to obtained reports, Ms. Hamideh Nabavi Chashemi, Ms. Shahnaz Gholami, Ms. Hanna Abdi, Ms. Zeinab Bayazidi, Ms. Ronak Safarzadeh, Ms. Zahra Assadpour, and Mr.`s Seyyed Zohour Nabavi, Mohammad Nikbakht, Yasser Majidi, Saeed Sangar, Jafar Eghdami, Farhad Haj Mirzaii, Hoad Yazerlou, Farzad Kamangar, Farhad Vakili Fard, Ali Heydarian, Mohammad Sedigh Kaboudvand, Hamidreza Mohammadi, Hamidreza Borhani, Saeed Masouri, Saeed Shah Ghale, Gholamhossein Kolbi, Mansour Osanlou, Arjang Davoudi, Ebrahim Madadi, Mohammad-Ali Mansouri, Ali Zaremi, Misagh Yazdan Nejad, Abbas Khorsandi, Behrouz Javid Tehrani, Ahmad Danesh Pazir, Saleh Kohandel, Ali Moezzi, Ali Mohammad Hassani, Ayatollah Kazemeini Boroujerdi, and hundreds of other political prisoners who are incarcerated or exiled in the regime’s torture chambers, face some of the most grueling pressures and forms of physical and mental tortures.In addition, Shiraz University students, including Saeed Khalaatbari, Arash Roustaii, Hadi Alam Li, Enayat Taghva, Ahmad Kohansal, Esmaeel Jalil Vand, Hamdollah Namjou, and Alma Ranjbar, who were summoned and arrested after widespread university protests marking the occasion of Student Day on December 6, 2008, are currently spending time at the mullah regime’s MOIS secret locations.The Iranian Resistance warns about the intensification of pressures and torture on political prisoners, and calls on all international human rights organizations and bodies to refer the dossier of the inhumane regime’s crimes to the UN Security Council and adopt immediate and binding measures aimed at stopping the brutal suppression of prisoners in Iran.

Two prisoners hanged in public in Iran
Two prisoners were hanged in public by Iran’s judiciary in Chamrun Square in the southern city of Jahrom, reported the official daily Kayhan on Tuesday. The men were identified as Mojtaba R. and M.H.A. On January 31, 2008, the mullahs’ judiciary chief, Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi, ordered death penalty should be carried out behind close doors. 'We have repeatedly seen that people expressed sympathy with the person who was going to be hanged in public. People even expressed their abhorrence at the execution of the sentence,' said the assistant prosecutor for sentences in Tehran’s criminal prosecution office, the state-run daily Javan reported on January 31, 2008. 'With far less expenditure, executions could be carried out in prison,' he added. The state-run websites also admitted to the adverse effects of public hangings and noted that the victims’ gestures before being hanged deeply affected the young people and left heroes image in their minds. These websites regretted that in addition to generating hatred among people, public hangings have also damaged the status of the regime in the world.